Starting oe stopping



(No Model.) 2 SheetsSheet 1. H. W. B. PRING. STARTING 0R STOPPINGAPPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY 03 OTHER VEHICLES.

Patented Dec. 3, 1895.

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(No Model.) 2,Sheets-Sheet 2.

H. W. B. PRING. STARTING 0R STOPPING APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY ORVOTHERVEHICLES. No. 550,896. Patented Dec. 3, 1895.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY \VILLIAM B. PRING, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

STARTING OR STOPP ING APPLIANCE FOR RAILWAY OR OTHER VEHICLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 550,896, dated December3, 1895.

Application filed May 13, 1895- Serial No. 549,170. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY WILLIAM BUR- GOYNE PRING, clerk, a subject ofthe Queen of Great Britain, residing at 8 Alexandra Villas, LonsdaleRoad, Barnes, London, in the county of Surrey, England, have inventednew and useful Starting and Stopping Appliances for Railway, Tramway, orRoad Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to starting and stopping appliances for railway,tramway, and road vehicles, by means of which the momentum of thevehicle from the moment the brake is applied to that when the vehiclecomes to a standstill is stored up and given out again, as soon as thebrake is removed, for the purpose of starting the vehicle, so relievingthe horses or other tractive power at the severest portion of the work.

In order that my invention may be more fully understood and carried intopractice, I will now proceed to describe the same with reference to theaccompanying drawings, of which- Figure 1 is a side and Fig. 2 an endelevation of the lower portion of a road-vehicle provided with astopping and starting appliance constructed according to my invention,and Fig. 3 an elevation of the opposite side to that shown in Fig. 1 ofsome parts of said appliance.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a ratchetwheel a is keyed or otherwisefastened on the hub of the brake-wheel b concentrically, and on this hubis also mounted loosely a drum 0, preferably of the eccentric formshown. This drum 0 has pivoted in it or to it a pawl (I, socounterbalanced that it normally occupies a position, Fig. 3, in whichit is out of gear with the ratchet-wheel d; but when the drum 0 isrevolved it gradually assumes a position in which it gears with saidratchet-wheel. A loose collar 6 is also mounted on the hub of the wheel6, and from this projects an arm f, having pivoted to its outer free enda lever g, carrying on one end thereof the brake-block h and connectedat its opposite end through a rod h, Fig. 2, to the cranked end of arod 1. This rod Z is journaled in the frame of the vehicle, so that itmay be revolved sufficiently to throw the brake-block into or out ofcontact with the tire of the wheel I), the movement to throw thebrake-block into gear being effected by the usual lever situated on thefoot-b oard or other portion of the Vehicle and connected by a chain orcord on, passing over suitable pulleys, to a middle cranked portion ofsaid rod, while the return movement is effected by a spring 72,connected at one end to this middle cranked portion of the rodl and atits opposite end to the body of the vehicle. The brake-block isconnected to one end of and norm ally supported in the position shown bya strap, chain, or cord 0, which is passed over a loose pulley p,mounted in the bracket 13, projecting from the side of the vehicle, andfrom thence travels around the drum 0, over a second pulley in thebracket 13, and is connected at its opposite end to the end of apowerful spring arranged within a tube q, secured to the side of thevehicle. The result of such an arrangement is that when the brake-blockis forced against the tire of the Wheel, while the vehicle is still inmotion, it is carried around a certain distance by said wheel and themomentum of the vehicle absorbed by the compression of the spring on thetube q through the medium of the strap, chain, or cord. At the same timethe drum 0 is partly revolved and the pawl d brought into a positionthat it gears with the ratchet-wheel a, the result being that the partsremain stationary, as the force of the compressed spring tends to turnthe brake-block in one direction and the wheel in the opposite, untilthe brakeblock is moved out of contact with the wheeltire, when theenergy stored up in the spring tends to restore the parts to theiroriginal position, and in doing so revolves the drum 0, and with it thewheel I).

In the modified appliance shown the ratchetwheel a is keyed onto theaxle of one pair of wheels, and the drum 0, which in this case ispreferably concentric, mounted loosely there: on, with the ratchet-wheelwithin it. Said drum carries the pawl d, which is counterbalanced, asabove described, and has the cranked outer end of the pivot carrying itconnected by a spring or elastic band 1' to a fixed part 7", so that itis moved into engagement with the ratchet-wheel only when the drum isrevolved in the direction in which it compresses the spring in the tubeconnectedzto the carriage through the medium of the rope,

chain, or band 0, which is connected at one end to the drum and at itsopposite end to said spring. This drum 0, instead of being connected toand revolved by the movement of a brake-block, as above described inreference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, is connected to one end of a secondrope,chain, or band 0, the opposite end of which is wound around one ormore times and connected to a second smaller drum 0, mounted loosely onthe axle of the second pair of wheels and which takes the place of thebrake-block. This second drum 0 has a number of removablefriction-blocks 3 attached to one end thereof, which may be moved intoor out of contact with the inner surface of one of the wheels by slidingsaid drum along the axle on which it is mounted, either by the aid of alever 2, pivoted at t and connected at one end to said drum, while itsopposite end is c011- nected by a chain or the like to the lower end ofthe usual brake-handle situated on the front of the vehicle and normallyso held by spring w that said friction-blocks are out of contact withthe vehicle-wheel, or, as shown in Fig. 3, by a bell-crank levernormally held in the position shown by spring w, and connected at oneend to said drum and at its opposite end to one end. of a chain 0:,whose opposite end is secured to the lower end of the usualbrake-handle.

here the vehicle is intended to run in both directions, the starting andstopping appliance is duplicated, with the exception of the spring orspring-seated plunger, which might be used for both sets, the sets beingarranged to operate in opposite directions.

hat I claim is The combination of a brake block capable of being throwninto and out of gear with one of the wheels of the vehicle, and ofmoving with said wheel for a suitable distance, a ratchet wheel securedon the hub of said wheel or its axle where this revolves, a drum mountedloosely on the hub of said wheel or its axle where this revolves, andcarrying a balanced pawl, which, when said drum is partly revolved, ismoved into a position in which it gears with the ratchet wheel, and aspring, the latter being connected to the brake block by a rope, passingaround the loose drum on the hub or axle of the wheel substantially asdescribed and illustrated.

HENRY \VILLIAM l PRING.

\Vitnesses:

HoRAoE E. OoULsoN, T. F. BARNES.

